THE CITIES OF GUJARASHTRA BY HENRY GEORGE BRIGGS 1849 FIRST EDITION

[BRIGGS, HENRY GEORGE (1824 - 1872)]. The Cities of Gujarashtra: Their Topography and History Illustrated in the Journal of a Recent Tour. Bombay: Printed for the Author at The "Times" Press by James Chesson, 1849.

First edition. Leather-bound. Hardcover. Folio (300 x 240 x 35 mm.). Pp. [12], 408. English text. Bound in half leather, spine gilt, green cloth sides, patterned endpapers. Illustrated with several plans of palaces. Tables in the text. Printed footnotes. Condition: FAIR to GOOD. Binding tight, secure and square, the hinges intact. Some light wear to extremities. Textblock lightly toned, the title-page and final two leaves with repairs; dedication leaf creased; couple of small holes to title-page, and some miniscule worm tracks in the margins throughout. Apparently bound without the appendix, else complete. Extremely scarce.

Notes: First edition, printed at Bombay, of a very thorough, lengthy description of "Gujarashtra" (present-day Gujarat, India). One of the very few copies of this Bombay-printed first edition: WorldCat records only 1 copy, digitized by the University of Bradford. Henry Briggs was born in Bombay, October 20, 1824. He travelled in South Africa in 1843, in China in1845, and settled in Bombay in 1846 to work in the office of his father: Briggs & Co. Meanwhile he started writing about India. First he edited the Sindian (1854) and in 1855 the Sind Kossid. In 1856 he became assistant secretary at Bombay to the G.I.P. Railway. His first published book was the present Cities of Gujdrashtra, "containing curious information gleaned from travellers in India: of whose rare works he made an extensive collection" (Buckland). Next appeared The Parsis or Modern Zardushtians (1852) and The Nizam, his history and relations with the British government (1861), "a valuable work containing special information". He died in Bombay in July 4, 1872.

The Times' Press started printing books at Bombay with The Bombay Almanac from 1841 onwards. Printer James Chesson produced his first book there in 1845, titled Report upon the general condition of the province of Katteewar in 1842. Thus the present description of Gujarat was made in the early years of this publishing house that remained active well into the 20th century. In his foreword Briggs apologizes for the "infant condition of typography", which has "aided in retarding the appearance of the present portion in the time anticipated". The work is dedicated to the Governor of Bombay: Lord Lucius Bentinck. Briggs provides a wealth of information derived from local people and travelers, who he met while travelling the area himself. In doing so he hoped to fill "The absence of such a volume for enquiry or reference relative to the province". He treats especially the major cities of the state: Surat, Cambay, Ahmedabad, Baroda and Baroch. The history of the Western colonial presence in West India is also discussed in great detail, giving much information about the places where they were active. A valuable and very rare account.

Reference: "Briggs, Henry George," in Dictionary of Indian Biography (p. 52), by C. E. Buckland, London: Swan Sonnenschein (1906).